2nd-3rd C. Roman Opaque White Glass Tyche Flask - Enthroned...
2nd-3rd C. Roman Opaque White Glass Tyche Flask - Enthroned Goddess with ErosRoman, Imperial period, ca. 100–299 CE. A mold-formed figural flask of opaque white glass rendered as Tyche, goddess of fortune and civic guardian, enthroned in frontal majesty. The vessel's cylindrical neck and everted rim rise directly from her head, transforming the mural crown into the bottle's mouth, an inspired conflation of statue and container. She sits draped in chiton and himation, arms folded at the waist, seated cross-legged on a polygonal plinth, her proper right foot resting upon a stylized head: the river-god Orontes reduced to emblem. On the throne's proper left, a small winged Eros stands with arm raised, bearing a torch or wand; opposite him an indistinct bow and quiver appear in low relief. A single mold seam, faintly misaligned, runs from rim across body and base. Opaque white figural flasks are far rarer than their translucent kin, luxury vessels perhaps carrying unguents destined for votive offering. Size: 1.57" W x 6" H x 2.2" D (4.0 cm W x 15.2 cm H x 5.6 cm D).
The type derives, at several removes, from the colossal bronze Tyche of Antioch fashioned by Eutychides of Sikyon (a pupil of Lysippos) around 296 BCE. That monument fixed the enduring image of the enthroned city-goddess crowned with turreted walls, one foot poised above the swimming youth who personifies the river Orontes. The composition radiated across the Roman East, adapted to coinage, terracotta, and, as here, glass. In this provincial translation the Orontes has become a stylized head beneath the goddess's foot, the mural crown has metamorphosed into the flask's neck, and a diminutive Eros has been introduced at the side of the chair, an embellishment not found in the prototype. Flasks of this form were almost certainly produced as souvenirs, their contents perhaps poured out in offering at public or private shrines.
Comparanda are scarce. David Whitehouse (Roman Glass in the Corning Museum of Glass, 2001, pp. 126-127, no. 632) catalogues the type and enumerates a small number of related examples, among them the Metropolitan Museum of Art (44.11.6), the Staatliche Museen, Berlin (30219.238), two in the Yale University Art Gallery (Matheson, 1980, nos. 276-277), and one in the Museum Ha'aretz, Tel Aviv. The rarity of the group, and the added Eros, make this a distinguished survival.
Please note that a similar glass flask hammered 43,750 GBP (now equivalent to $78,301.66) at Christie's London on 6 July 2016 as lot 273 in Live Auction 13850 ("Ancient Glass from the Shlomo Moussaieff Collection."
Provenance: private North East Coast, USA collection, acquired prior to 2000
SHIPPING: We coordinate worldwide shipping in-house through specialist international forwarders experienced with fine art and antiquities customs manifests. International buyers must confirm, prior to bidding, that their country's customs authority will accept the item. All duties, taxes, clearance fees, and any costs arising from customs delays, seizures, re-export, returns, or loss in transit are the buyer's sole responsibility. Artemis assumes no liability for items refused entry, detained, or lost after export. We cannot ship ancient items to their country of origin (Egyptian to Egypt, Greek to Greece, etc.).
PAYMENT EXCEPTION: For clients not previously established with Artemis, payment for all gold, precious metal, and gemstone lots must be made by bank wire transfer or certified bank check/money order, without exception.
Item #204245Head and spout are restored from new material with adhesive visible on interior and resurfacing over break line on exterior. Some light surface, but, otherwise, excellent with impressive remaining detail and scattered earthen deposits.
2nd-3rd C. Roman Opaque White Glass Tyche Flask - Enthroned Goddess with ErosRoman, Imperial period, ca. 100–299 CE. A mold-formed figural flask of opaque white glass rendered as Tyche, goddess of fortune and civic guardian, enthroned in frontal majesty. The vessel's cylindrical neck and everted rim rise directly from her head, transforming the mural crown into the bottle's mouth, an inspired conflation of statue and container. She sits draped in chiton and himation, arms folded at the waist, seated cross-legged on a polygonal plinth, her proper right foot resting upon a stylized head: the river-god Orontes reduced to emblem. On the throne's proper left, a small winged Eros stands with arm raised, bearing a torch or wand; opposite him an indistinct bow and quiver appear in low relief. A single mold seam, faintly misaligned, runs from rim across body and base. Opaque white figural flasks are far rarer than their translucent kin, luxury vessels perhaps carrying unguents destined for votive offering. Size: 1.57" W x 6" H x 2.2" D (4.0 cm W x 15.2 cm H x 5.6 cm D).
The type derives, at several removes, from the colossal bronze Tyche of Antioch fashioned by Eutychides of Sikyon (a pupil of Lysippos) around 296 BCE. That monument fixed the enduring image of the enthroned city-goddess crowned with turreted walls, one foot poised above the swimming youth who personifies the river Orontes. The composition radiated across the Roman East, adapted to coinage, terracotta, and, as here, glass. In this provincial translation the Orontes has become a stylized head beneath the goddess's foot, the mural crown has metamorphosed into the flask's neck, and a diminutive Eros has been introduced at the side of the chair, an embellishment not found in the prototype. Flasks of this form were almost certainly produced as souvenirs, their contents perhaps poured out in offering at public or private shrines.
Comparanda are scarce. David Whitehouse (Roman Glass in the Corning Museum of Glass, 2001, pp. 126-127, no. 632) catalogues the type and enumerates a small number of related examples, among them the Metropolitan Museum of Art (44.11.6), the Staatliche Museen, Berlin (30219.238), two in the Yale University Art Gallery (Matheson, 1980, nos. 276-277), and one in the Museum Ha'aretz, Tel Aviv. The rarity of the group, and the added Eros, make this a distinguished survival.
Please note that a similar glass flask hammered 43,750 GBP (now equivalent to $78,301.66) at Christie's London on 6 July 2016 as lot 273 in Live Auction 13850 ("Ancient Glass from the Shlomo Moussaieff Collection."
Provenance: private North East Coast, USA collection, acquired prior to 2000
SHIPPING: We coordinate worldwide shipping in-house through specialist international forwarders experienced with fine art and antiquities customs manifests. International buyers must confirm, prior to bidding, that their country's customs authority will accept the item. All duties, taxes, clearance fees, and any costs arising from customs delays, seizures, re-export, returns, or loss in transit are the buyer's sole responsibility. Artemis assumes no liability for items refused entry, detained, or lost after export. We cannot ship ancient items to their country of origin (Egyptian to Egypt, Greek to Greece, etc.).
PAYMENT EXCEPTION: For clients not previously established with Artemis, payment for all gold, precious metal, and gemstone lots must be made by bank wire transfer or certified bank check/money order, without exception.
Item #204245Head and spout are restored from new material with adhesive visible on interior and resurfacing over break line on exterior. Some light surface, but, otherwise, excellent with impressive remaining detail and scattered earthen deposits.
